Mining your Data to Make Money

Posted in: Production by admin on January 1, 2003 | No Comments

Data mining is retrieving information from large databases. It can be used to predict trends and find behaviours that can be valuable to improving business. An example of how this can be used in the pig industry is the relationship between age of the pigs and H. parasuis diagnosis, or if culling reasons consistent among herds within a large system? Histograms can be used to show whether a measure is “normally” distributed. If a measurement is to be broken down into categories, pivot charts and tables in Microsoft Excel are useful (PigCHAMP is also capable of information breakdown). A line chart is good for observing something over time and for predicting something into the future. Other useful methods include decision analysis, analysis of variability (“risk analysis”), and optimization routines.

Observations from Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting for Analysts and Researchers

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Mandatory livestock price reporting has changed how prices are reported and used. Reporting has affected the availability of many reports and has added new reports and information. A variety of research issues are facilitated by the scope of new information available. However, the new information often needs to be put into a meaningful form for direct use. A brief overview of the evolution and implementation of mandatory price reporting is given. The new price reports are then discussed and compared to voluntary reports. There is enough new information that analysts may be able to make different insights into price formation. Special attention is given to new reports that give insights into the short-run cattle supply situation. While the focus is on cattle reports, swine reports are also briefly discussed.

Performance traits of pigs fed sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) foliage ad libitum and graded levels of protein

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Biochemical evaluation of Gmelina arborea fruit meal as a swine feedstuff

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In Search of a Magic Bullet! Strategies for Dealing with Fusarium-Contaminated Grains in the Swine Industry

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Fusarium (FHB) species naturally excrete a mycotoxin called DON that is very toxic to swine, causing vomiting and feed refusal. There is an estimated 7.5% reduction in feed
Intake for every 1 ppm DON found in the feed. Manitoba in particular seems to have trouble with FHB, so the University of Manitoba is conducting research to address the problem. This research was aimed at determining what the maximum amount of DON that can be fed is, if there are any decontamination strategies, or if there are any feed additives that could be used.

Research found that 2-ppm of DON in the diet resulted in a 7.6% reduction of feed intake, but were not seriously affected production-wise. The presence of up to 4 ppm DON in the diet had no adverse effects on swine over the entire grower-finisher period. These results work against the CFIA theory that pigs are unable to tolerate even low levels of DON. Similar experiments performed on piglets yielded the same results.

Physical treatment via heat is ineffective at decontaminating infected grain. Pearling, however, appeared to show promise in removing the layer of grain contaminated with DON. A chemical treatment known as ammoniation proved to be ineffective as well. Washing with water and sodium carbonate proved to be 70 to 90% effective, but the producer will incur a cost of drying the grains after. This of course is not a problem if the mill is equipped for wet milling. Biological processes such as bacterial treatment show promise, but more research is needed. The only alternative at this time is dietary compensation to counter the effects of DON. At this time, no magic bullet exists to fight off FHB and DON.

Can Subtherapeutic Levels of Antibiotics be Eliminated from Swine Diets?

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Using antibiotics to enhance growth in food animals is bringing concerns that antibiotic resistant bacteria, which could affect human health, will emerge. Due to public concern, the industry must look for alternatives. Antibiotics are used to prevent infections in the intestine, which in turn will lead to better utilization of nutrients for growth. Spray-dried plasma (SDP) is being added to the diets of post-weaning piglets to dramatically increase feed intake and growth. SDP is thought to provide immunological protection to the pig, which may prevent immune system activation and allow nutrients to be diverted towards growth. In conclusion, SDP appears to be an acceptable form of replacement for antibiotic growth promoters.

Do Antibiotics Reduce Production Risk for U.S. Pork Producers?

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Mini-livestock breeding with indigenous species in the tropics

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Economic and Structural Relationships in U.S. Hog Production

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The Battle of the Bugs and Other Alternatives to Antibiotics in Pork Production

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Even though disease is just as existent today than ever before, alternatives to antibiotics need to be developed in order to prevent super bugs from developing. Bacteria are able to develop immunity to these antibiotics and even pass on these immunity genes. The immune species can then travel between animals and sometimes even to humans (zoonotic). Bacteria that develop the immunity can be spread to humans, and some are harmful to humans. The past 35 years has seen a move to stop the use of antimicrobial growth promotants in animal feed.

There is also a concern of antibiotics in the environment. This would come from undigested antibiotics passing through animals via urine and feces. Some commonly used antibiotics can survive in the environment for up to a year.

Probiotics are an alternative currently being investigated. Probiotics are “good” bacteria that are fed to animals to exert a positive effect on the animal. Probiotics prevent “bad” bacteria from attaching to the gut wall and causing disease to the animal. They compete with “bad” bacteria for nutrients and gut space, so as long as the “good” bacteria dominate, the animal will remain healthy. This will result in increased growth rate, improved digestibility, improved feed consumption and improved feed utilization efficiency.

Prebiotics are another alternative. These feeds are not digestible and provide a suitable environment for good bacteria to live and grow. This will work to maintain the already established good bacteria in the gut and help to keep the animal healthy.

Other alternatives to antibiotics include enzymes (to improve nutrient and feed utilization), diet acidification (a low pH will create an environment in the feed unfavorable to bacteria), liquid and fermented feed (will create an acidic environment in the intestine, which is unfavorable to bacteria), minerals, nutraceuticals (derived from food, but not considered food), novel antibodies (obtained from chicken eggs), and vaccinations.